Brita Climate Ride underway

Hundreds of cyclists participated in the Brita Climate Ride May 13-17, pedaling from New York City to Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., for greater action on climate change.

Speaker at Tuesday’s rally portion of the event included climate expert Bill McKibben; Keith Laughlin, president of Rails-to-Trails;Alisa Gravitz, Executive Director, Green America; and two members of Congress — Sen. Ben Cardin (D, MD) and Reps. Donna Edwards (D, MD). Both denounced the annual subsidies to the oil and gas and nuclear industries.

Laughlin called for “burning calories, not carbon,” while Cardin joked that “riders belong on the streets, not attached to appropriations bills,” and Gravitz shared the latest on Green America’s work to make Clean Energy Victory Bonds a reality.

Climate Ride is a nonprofit organization that puts on fully supported, charitable bike rides to support sustainable solutions and environmental causes. The next journey will be from Eureka, Calif., to San Francisco Oct. 2-6.